In this age of fast food and microwave ready meals, there is a growing market for fine dining. Whether you want to learn where to find great food or to cook it for yourself, gourmet food magazines are full of helpful tips about food and wine from around the world. The photographs are inspirational in themselves and you can impress your friends with delicious meals.

There are several publications on the market, each with their own qualities and to a high standard of content with mouth-watering illustrations. One of these is simply titled Gourmet. This monthly gourmet food magazine is edited by Ruth Reichl, once restaurant critic to the New York Times. Much of the magazine is devoted to recipes and there are articles on food and travel, restaurants and advice on entertaining guests.

Saveur is another monthly and one that is notable for its wonderful photographs. It has an international flavor with articles on world cuisine with emphasis on regional cooking and recipes. A wide range of dining establishments are reviewed from humble cafes to the most grand restaurant.

Fine Cooking is a very practical guide for people who like to roll their sleeves up and put their aprons on. It's full of terrific recipes as well as guidelines on cooking techniques. This monthly is a very user friendly food magazine for gourmets with easy to follow recipes using step-by-step illustrations.

Food and Wine is a monthly publication with recipes and articles on food for the traveler and planning dinner parties and other occasions. Each year, the magazine publishes its list of Top 10 Best New Chefs, chosen from across the United States. Gastronomica is a quarterly publication, published by the University of California with a more academic approach to discussing food topics. The magazine looks at basic recipes and the most sophisticated dining, illustrated by high quality photographs. The magazine also includes fiction and poetry.

Art Culinaire is a hard bound quarterly that is read by professional chefs as well as a general readership. The articles and recipes are all from the pen of full time chefs. The part time cook will have fun meeting the challenge of cooking with this gourmet food magazine.

The Art of Eating is a quarterly with sole contributions from well known food writer, Edward Behr. Behr writes eloquently on food and wine, looking at where the best produce can be found in stores, markets and farms. He also reviews restaurants and books. Wine reviews are another regular feature and there are recipes and letters from readers. The focus is mainly on food from Italy, France and the United States and the regional varieties in those locations.

Cookery programs and books are very popular and food magazines for gourmets is another way of keeping up with the latest trends in dishes and kitchen gadgets and cooking techniques. Some people like to bind the magazines together to form a collection whilst others cut out recipes to put in a scrapbook.